Chapter 52: Returning to the Capital to Seek Officialdom

“I just don’t understand how you can still hold on.” At this point in time, this room in the sword hut had no bystanders and was very quiet, Fan Xian sat down on the chair beside the bed and said softly to the dry and thin old man on the bed, “Why bother holding on so hard?”

Fan Xian still had a few scruples about this great master, or else with his acerbic nature under his gentle face, the words he said at this time should have been a bit harder to hear. Although the Four Gu Swords had already run out of gas, he was still very afraid that the thin old man on that bed would suddenly turn into a large sword and then violently slash at himself.

Four Gu Jian lying on the bed, his eyes look up, although the breathing is not sharp, will be unusually far away, sounds like a broken bellows, always give a person a kind of furnace flame is about to extinguish the feeling.

This is exactly Fan Xian’s puzzlement, obviously that year on the Great Eastern Mountain, the four Gu Jian Sheng received Ye Liuyun a loose hand, His Majesty Wang Dao a punch, the vitality of the early extinction, but do not know exactly what method he used, but was able to survive for three years long.

Only a month ago, after being stabbed twice by Shadow Wind and Thunder’s sword, this great master finally couldn’t hold out any longer, the true qi within his meridians dispersed, turning into a side of haggard wood on his bed. Fan Xian was able to clearly perceive the pain and price that the Four Gu Swords had paid to forcefully prolong his life, so he didn’t quite understand why the other party was still dragging his feet with the pure life-preserving true qi in his body since he was living such a hard life, and the agreement had already been reached.

Four Gu Jian’s body was originally extremely dry and thin, this month with the ghost of the fight, the loss is too much, foot light has nearly twenty pounds, the whole person’s skin and flesh all dry, skin almost to stick to the bone, looks very horrible.

Ho-ho sounds rang out from the bed, as if he was laughing, and Si Gu Jian said in a hoarse, extremely low voice, “Life and death are irrational, I don’t want to die yet, so I want to live.”

Fan Xian quietly looked at him. After confirming that the other party was already in a quadriplegic state, he couldn’t help but sigh, stand up, and say, “Yi Theory, back then, your disciples had injured me many times, and among those hundred Tiger Guards you killed on Dadong Mountain, there were quite a few close subordinates whom I wanted to protect from harm, but I don’t know why, seeing you about to die, I don’t have too much of a great revenge Pleasure.”

“Because …… you …… know, those tiger guards are your emperor’s old man borrowed my hand sword to kill.” Four Gu Jian’s breathing gradually calmed down, speaking statement also gradually smooth, only those two pairs of deep in the eye sockets in the eyes, has long been difficult to condense the year in the world’s prevalence of the sword aura, some indifference, some laxity.

After Fan Xian paused for a moment, he respectfully asked for advice, “I’m curious to know how exactly you survived these years.”

Si Gu Jian was silent. Fan Xian walked forward, stood by the bedside and gently lifted his comforter, extremely carefully pulling back the soft, light clothing covering the Grand Master’s body, and looked at the large wound on his chest and abdomen for a long time without opening his mouth.

It was a rather rude, rather disrespectful action. At this time, there was no one else in the room of the sword hut to see it, but Fan Xian still felt that his action was very rude and inappropriate, so he just looked at it for a couple of moments, and then he very deliberately pulled the garment over the Sigu Sword’s body.

The dying Grandmaster could only let Fan Xian look at him like he was inspecting a corpse, so I’m sure that Si Gu Jian’s heart should have felt anger, but strangely enough, Si Gu Jian’s eyes didn’t change in the slightest, and he just looked at the beams above his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

Fan Xian sat back in his chair and began to think back in his mind about the wounds he had seen earlier. The reason why he was interested in Si Gu Jian’s wounds was because he really didn’t know how this Grand Master, in fact, prolonged his life for three years, because he knew that the real cause of Si Gu Jian’s death was still the punch that His Majesty, the Emperor, had blasted at him.

Even if he was a Grand Master, but with his abdominal meridians shattered and all his internal organs rotted, how could he have survived?

In the City Lord’s Mansion, when Shadow assassinated the Four Gu Swords, Fan Xian had caught a glimpse of the strange wound in the Grand Master’s abdomen.

That wound was glowing with a very scary greenish color, and this greenish aura was a color that Fan Xian was very familiar with, the color of intense poison. Fan Xian sat in his chair, silent for a long, long time, and then suddenly spoke, “How long has Mr. Fei stayed in Dongyi City?”

Si Gu Jian laughed with great difficulty and said softly after a long time, “Actually, you’re a bit smarter than you think you are.”

Fan Xian sat down woodenly in his chair and said, “Using a severe poison to amputate the meridians and stiffen the rotting flesh and blood, this kind of subtle technique of using poison is not something that everyone can do.”

He sighed and gently rubbed his temples and said, “This kind of realm, I once heard Mister talk about it once when I was a child, but I never thought that someone could actually do it. The three patriarchs under the sky who use poison, Sean is dead, and I know that the one in your Dongyi city is simply blown out of proportion by you …… Although he has some caliber, the one who can really use poison to make you live for a few more years, besides Mr. Fei, who else can there be.”

“And what he’s been telling me is that he’s going to go out to sea, and instead of going through Quanzhou, he’s going to go through Dongyi City.” As if talking to himself, Fan Xian said softly, “He cured you back then, so it’s not too much of a surprise that he’s coming back to cure you once more now.”

“Hmm.” Si Gu Jian’s body was stiff on the bed at this point, unable to move at all, and said indifferently, “Fei Jie stayed in the Sword Lodge for a year and a half, and then went out to sea.”

A sense of perplexity suddenly arose in Fan Xian’s heart, when he saw Si Gu Jian’s injuries during the City Lord’s Mansion, he had already been moved to suspicion, he had thought that Mr. Fei Jie was still quietly hiding in the Sword Lodge, but hadn’t imagined that Mr. Fei Jie had already left long ago.

He was reborn into this world, in addition to his grandmother and Uncle Wuzhu, the two relatives, Mr. Fei Jie was the first elder he had seen, the first person who loved and cared for him wholeheartedly, although it was a strange person – Fan Xian and Fei Jie did not stay together for a long time, but the master and disciple, they were extraordinarily close, a kind of closeness that had been refined with corpses and poisons .

Mr. Fei Jie had really gone out to sea, and was only afraid that he would never return to this continent in his life. Fan Xian’s heart suddenly felt cold, a faint sadness welled up, thinking that in the future, father, Chen Pingping, and even the emperor’s old man might all leave themselves one by one, leaving themselves alone in this world, which was really a kind of unbearable sadness.

“Fei Jie and Ye Liuyun went out to sea together.” Si Gu Jian spilled another secret.

Fan Xian was silent for a long time, since the Great Eastern Mountain, Ye Liuyun had only recuperated from his injuries for two months, and then it was the same as it had been in the previous decades, and no one knew of him anymore, not even Ye Chong and Ye Ling’er, except that the Qing people’s subjects were accustomed to the life of this great master like an idle crane, and no one cared too much about it.

Going out to sea? To a new continent? Fan Xian laughed bitterly with some difficulty in suppressing himself, “Everyone is walking quite dryly.”

“Ye Liuyun was stabbed by me on the mountain, and will never be able to return to his original level.” Si Gu Jian was lying on the bed, speaking very calmly, with no pride or violence at all, “Fei Jie followed him to the sea, so he could take care of his injuries, and Ye Liuyun’s hands, so he could protect Fei Jie a bit, these two old things, they are living in a very dashing manner.”

Fan Xian stood up and looked at him after a moment of silence, “The negotiations between my Daqing and Dongyi City are still continuing, as you know, this matter cannot be settled in a very short period of time, those princes and nobles of the vassal states surely still have a backlash, and as you are going to die soon, you will not be able to control these issues, and at that time, I might be able to apply some hot hands. ”

“This has nothing to do with me.” Four Gu Jian’s thin body was buried under the cotton blanket, looking pitiful, “You’re talking to me about all this, cough …… cough …… aren’t you going to leave.”

“I’m going to make a temporary trip back to the capital, and then I’ll come back to deal with the aftermath.” Fan Xian nodded and marched towards the house, and when his feet suddenly stepped on the threshold, he suddenly opened his mouth and said, “What exactly did Chen Pingping have Fei Jie bring you?”

Si Gu Jian acted as if he had fallen asleep and did not answer at all.

Fan Xian then turned around at the threshold, his eyes filled with worry as he continued to ask, “Bitter Lotus wants to prolong Chen Pingping’s life, Chen Pingping wants to prolong your life, you old guys, why do you have to stay up so hard? Sometimes, I really can’t believe that the old dean would actually choose such a path, it’s too inconsistent with his aesthetic concepts.”

“I’m also surprised.” Si Gu Jian laughed very hard, “That old black dog has obviously always been loyal to the Emperor of Qing, why did he help me save my life, is he not afraid that I will poke my nose into the matter of the Hanging Temple?”

Fan Xian did not open his mouth to vocalize, thinking somewhat bleakly in his heart that what that old cripple was thinking was nothing more than exploiting human nature, and what a miserable and painful plot it was.

“Three years ago before the Kyoto conspiracy, the dean was poisoned.” Fan Xian suddenly looked down and said, “That person was from your Dong Yi City.”

After saying these words, he left the room and walked out of the deadly, yet murderous room. He stood next to the large pit in the middle of the sword hut and looked up at the sky, silent for a long time without speaking. At this moment, white clouds were floating in the sky, and the round and bright sun was at the end of that long smear of clouds, looking like a big burning brush, painting blinding pictures on the blue sky.

Burning itself and shining on others, this universe was dark by nature, but it couldn’t allow a bit of darkness in its eyes, desperately burning the fuel from the beginning of time, wanting to shine out all the darkness hidden behind the stars.

Fan Xian stood beside the sword pit and took a deep breath, the two great circumferences in his body flowing slowly, the true qi of the Heavenly Dao protecting his heart and veins, while bringing his Hegemony True Technique to the extreme realm, the true qi in his body filled up, agitating his clothes to the point that they hunted and squeaked in the windless environment.

A seemingly endless amount of true qi was sent along his arms and towards his smooth palms, slowly releasing itself.

This kind of true qi running method, which not everyone would know, was a useless tactic that Fan Xian had come up with back then in order to climb the cliffs, except that he had practiced it for twenty years, and had practiced it to the point that it was already pure, and the true qi was released and moved with his mind in a very natural way. An interesting idea back then, who would have thought that it would serve such a purpose many years later.

Fan Xian stood beside the sword mound, his arms spreading out in both directions.

The countless sword branches within the pit began to tinkle, seemingly sensing the call of this true qi and trembling unceasingly.

A simple sword, the first one that couldn’t withstand this power, the tip of the sword wailed sadly and broke free from the yellow soil at the bottom of the pit of the sword hut, as well as those rotten paper strips and garbage thrown in by the Siguru Sword, and flew up and into Fan Xian’s hand.

Fan Xian quietly looked at the sword he held in his hand, comparing it to the Great Wei Heavenly Son Sword he was accustomed to using, and realizing that it was indeed unremarkable at all, he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh and said, “It’s also fate.”

On the bed in the gloom of the room, the dying Grand Master Si Gu Jian laughed and said to himself, “It still doesn’t work.”

Fan Xian looked at the sword in his hand and sighed, “Still not even close.”

In the midst of the night, three caravans headed towards the west at top speed. This caravan was carrying the honorable guests of the Qing Kingdom on top of it, and in the current situation, no one dared to stop these carriages for inspection within the entire realm controlled by Dongyi City, so the caravan’s speed was extremely fast.

Not to mention that the color of these carriages was black.

Mu Feng’er carefully poured a basin of hot water and placed it in front of Lord Tiji, fearing that he would spill the water himself at this point when the carriages were traveling.

Fan Xian’s daily life could truly be considered extravagant, and he didn’t know where these officials of the Supervisory Yuan obtained the hot water from. He fished out the hot towel from the basin, wiped his tired face vigorously, and asked, “Is there any new news in Kyoto?”

“Everything is as usual.” Mu Feng’er glanced at his lord and answered softly. In fact, he wasn’t sure why Lord Titus was in such a hurry to return to the capital. Although it was true that the negotiations with Dongyi City were troublesome, and that His Excellency needed to return to the capital to submit the details of the negotiations, to His Majesty for finalization, but why did he have to make the time so tense? One would even have to take the risk of traveling at night. Fortunately, there aren’t any mountain roads near Dongyi City, or else once the car overturns, who could afford to take the responsibility, I’m afraid that His Majesty the Emperor would behead all the officials of the Supervisory Yuan accompanying him.

Hearing Mu Feng’er’s reply, Fan Xian’s mood relaxed a lot. It was now the 10th year of the Qingli reign, and it had been five or six years since he had officially entered the Supervisory Court. More accurately, from the day he was born, he had been groomed by Chen Pingping to prepare for taking over the Supervisory Court. When he was five years old, apart from studying poisons under Mr. Fei Jie, most of his time was spent learning the regulations and organizational planning of the Supervisory Academy. By today, Fan Xian had firmly grasped the terrifying institution of the Supervisory Academy, and had a judgment of his own regarding the loyalty and ability of his subordinates.

The black carriage moved forward in the black night, silent and soundless. The oil lamps inside the carriage were windproof and shiver-proof, but the light was still somewhat variable. Fan Xian rubbed his sore eyes, raised his head, and suddenly spoke calmly, “Little Feng’er, you are Mu Tie’s distant nephew, right?”

Mu Feng’er froze, thinking that this matter you have long known ah, but still respectfully responded, “It is the subordinate’s cousin uncle, but …… not out of three generations.”

“If someone wants to kill Mu Tie, what will you do?”

Mu Feng’er was startled, staring blankly at Fan Xian, unable to say a word for a long time.

Fan Xian smiled and said, “Just an example. Let’s put it this way, if Mu Tie and I have an enmity, and he wants to use his death to provoke you into hating me …… would you kill me for it?”

Mu Feng’er shook her head repeatedly, not daring to say a word.

Fan Xian shook his head in some bemusement, sighed, and lowered his head again, thinking to himself how could there be such stubborn people in this world?

As Fan Xian traveled forward in the darkness of the night, returning to Kyoto to expound on the matter of the Eastern Barbarians to His Majesty in detail, that His Majesty, the Emperor of Northern Qi, had already returned to the quiet city of Shangcheng. The black and green palace eaves were still as beautiful as ever, and although she had been away from the palace for some time, no one had noticed the slightest abnormality under the Empress Dowager’s strong suppression and the cooperation of her close officials in the court.

In comparison, back then, the Beiqi royal family, which had always been regarded as mother and son discord by the Southern Qing court, was actually united as if it was an iron plate, and it was too much clearer than the Southern Qing side.

The Emperor of Northern Qi stared blankly at the dark night outside the palace, glanced back at the beautiful woman behind him who was reading a book, and suddenly opened his mouth to ask: “You and Fan Xian only stayed in your room for half an hour, could he be so desperate for sex, or is it just that you’re so horny it’s hard for you to restrain yourself?”

Since returning to the palace, although the young emperor’s favor towards Noble Consort Li had not waned, the vitriol in his speech was somewhat unstoppable. Si Li Li had grown up with her since she was young, of course she knew what kind of temperament she was, and after holding back for half a month without explaining, today she smiled and opened her mouth to say, “Your majesty, I know that you’re jealous, and you don’t need to show it so obviously.”

When Fan Xian said those words that day, the young emperor’s face became a bit ugly, and today, after hearing Si Li Li’s words, she couldn’t help but snort coldly.

Si Li Li stood up and walked behind her, leaning her cheek against her thin shoulder, wrapping her arms around her and gently caressing her belly, exhaling, she said, “Fan Xian’s words are very simple, if you have it, of course it can only be me who has it, and no matter which one of us has it, we always have to tell him, the one who is the father, about it.”

The young emperor fell silent and suddenly spoke, “I wonder if that little white boy is still living happily in Dong Yi City.”

Si Li Li did not reply to this sentence, but was just thinking, Little Lord Fan is the most dashing man in the world, but having caused so many things to happen, I’m afraid that if he is caught in the middle of it, he is going to be the most embittered man in the world.

The most agonized man in the world finally made his way back to Kyoto, and the black carriage quickly passed through both the Kyoto guards and the thirteen city gates, arriving under the gates of the palace.

Fan Xian took a deep breath and jumped out of the carriage, not looking at those officials who were full of joy and gathered towards him, but only thinking in his heart that this time he would enter the palace to ask for an official position from His Majesty, and he would definitely get it!